Two men with female 'spirit', c 1920.

Description

A portrait photograph of two men, possibly taken by William Hope (1863-1933). The face of a younger woman appears between the men, surrounded in an ethereal-looking 'mist'. Hope's spirit album photographs use multiple exposure techniques to render the appearance of ghostly apparitions. Hope founded the spiritualist society known as the Crewe Circle and his work was popular after World War One when many bereaved people were desperate to find evidence of loved ones living beyond the grave. Although his deception was publicly exposed by a private investigator in 1922, he continued to practice.